This invention relates to the field of marine equipment and, more particularly, to the field of devices for securely covering anchors when they are not in their intended use.
For many years, the method of use of anchors was by dropping the anchor over the side of a boat or ship each time it was desired for the craft to anchor and then having to raise the anchor into the craft each time it was desired for the craft to set sail. Under this method, however, considerable damage was done to the outside of the boat by the anchor on its way up from the water into the boat or on its way down from the boat into the water. In addition, the sheer weight and irregular size and shape of the anchor often damaged the deck of the boat when being moved to or from the edge or when being lifted or set down.
Because of the difficulty involved in raising and lowering anchors, another method was developed whereby, when not in use, the anchor is suspended from the front or bow of the boat in a bracket or another holder and is then lowered into the water by a pulley. The anchor is later lifted by the pulley into the bracket. This method, too, was found to damage boats, because any rocking movement of the boat caused the anchor to be swung against the boat or against the side of other boats nearby. Thus, various devices had been invented to remedy the problem, for example, by providing anchor holders to prevent the anchor from swinging from its suspended position and causing damage. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,109,052 (Edman et al.), 2,203,390 (Maxwell) and 3,068,828 (Ellis).
Nowadays, the more common position for an anchor on a boat is above-deck at the bow of the boat and affixed to the boat or held there by a bracket so that the anchor can be placed there easily from the deck and so that the anchor does not sway or swing when the boat rocks from side to side. However, because of the usual shape and size of anchors, another problem is created. As shown in FIG. 1, a typical anchor 10 is formed from steel and has two large downward extending blades 11,12, called flukes, attached to an elongated horizontal bar 13, called a stock. A vertical bar 14, called a shank, that is about twice the length of the stock 13 is attached perpendicularly to the stock 13 between the flukes 11,12 and extends downward form the stock 13 at an acute angle relative to the flukes 11,12. An elarged top portion 15 is also provided about the point of attachment of the shank 14 to the stock 13 but extending in a direction opposite to the flukes 11,12, in order to provide better balance and penetrability for the anchor 10. FIG. 2 shows this typical anchor 10 mounted on and projecting from the bow of a boat 18. When a boat having this typical anchor mounted to its bow attempts to dock or back away from a dock and does not do so absolutely perfectly, the bow of the boat will approach or contact the sides of other, nearby boats, and the stock 13 and the enlarged top portion 15 of the anchor 10, which both project outward from the bow of the boat, will often cause scrapes and other damage to nearby boats. This situation is exacerbated by the ever-decreasing docking space allotted per boat as the number of boats requiring docking space increases. The narrow docking space almost guarantees that the bow region of a boat moving in or out of the dock will contact a nearby boat. Due to the anchors affixed to the front of the boats, this contact will undoubtedly have some damaging effect.